When Heaven Fell

By: Carolyn Marsden

Suggested Delivery:

Small groups reading
Lexile Reading Level: 710 L

Marsden, C. (2007). When heaven fell. Cambridge : Candlewick Press.

 Captivating, see Vietnam through different lens before and after the war, Innocence, Love, patient, the meaning of family, jealously, the grass is always greener

This is a captivating book about Vietnamese culture. This story is told by a 9 year old Vietnamese girl named Binh. Binh learns about American culture and she realizes it is different than what she thought. Her American Aunt comes to visit and learns a lot about Vietnamese culture and life.

Electronic Resources:

Cultural Facts

This website can be used before students read the book. It gives some basic information of Vietnamese culture and the definitions of the Vietnamese words which are used throughout the book. This website can be used before the students read to give them some background information about Vietnamese culture.

Wordle

Students will create a word cloud on a character of their choice describing them and their view on different cultures and how it changed throught the book. This will be done after the students read the book.

Key Vocabulary:

This vocabulary should be taught before reading the book.

Communist

Subtitles

Ba- father

Di-Aunt prounounced yee

Con-child

Non la- Vietnam- cone-shaped straw hat

Viet-kieu-Vietnamese who live abroad

Reading Strategies:

An anticipation guide will be used before  the students read a book. This will done in a true or false fashion. This will help the teacher see what the students know about the Vietnam culture and other important points made in this book.

In small groups have the students complete a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting Vietnamese and American life using examples of the book. This will be done after they read the book.

Writing Activity that demonstrates Inferential Comprehension:

Have students use the raft method to write a few paragraphs of the point of view on any character in this book which they can choose. Have the students compare and contrast their point of view to the characters.